Mets hoping Ike Davis will be the talk of the second half

Maybe because he was sick of talking about his average – 42 points south of .200 as recently as June 8 – Ike Davis vanished. Not at the plate, but inside the clubhouse.

If not for his slump, this would have been peculiar. Davis is one of the more gregarious players on the team, almost always willing to engage the men and women who carry around digital recorders and notebooks.

But most days, when the clubhouse doors opened, Davis was not there. He would often wait until the room emptied before settling into his routine.Eventually his bat started catching up to baseballs. He had six hits during a three-game series in Tampa. He went on a nine-game hitting streak. He had three hits in a 17-1 win over the Cubs.

As the average climbed, from .158 to .201, the chatter resumed.

In Chicago, he told reporters to enjoy the city and grab a late dinner.In Queens, he jokingly chastised a group of writers when nobody returned his welcome greeting.

The connection between his personality and his performance was linear.

“I think he’s swinging very well,” Mets manager Terry Collins said before Sunday’s game against the Cubs. “And I think he’s going to come up with a big second half. I think the rest is going to help him right now, given the illness that he still has. But he’s swinging better. He looks better in the batter’s box. He looks comfortable.

“And again, as we saw even [Saturday], he got out in front of that breaking ball a little bit and still hit it in the upper deck. I think he’s right on track to still look up at the end of the year and see those 25 homers.”

The Mets are counting on a continued climb from Davis. He hit .302 with 25 RBI in 36 games during 2011, before an ankle injury cut short his season. He had a 19-homer, 71-RBI campaign as a rookie in 2010.

His first-half power numbers have been decent (12 HR, 49 RBI), but so far this season has been a step back. Davis was diagnosed with symptoms of Valley Fever during spring training – the illness Collins referenced this past Sunday – but Davis has said repeatedly that it has not affected his performance.

But Collins wants more. Not just from Davis, but from left fielder Jason Bay and right fielder Lucas Duda.

“I still believe though offensively that Ike’s going to have a big second half,” Collins said. “Lucas [Duda] last year had a big second half. I hope he has another one. As we start to get into this, we’ve got to start hitting throughout.”

A lot of that responsibility will fall on Davis. The Mets are 46-40. But when they left for the All-Star break, they were just a half-game behind the Braves for the second wild card.

“I know right now we’re in the hunt,” Collins said. “We like our chances. We like our club. Our pitching holds up, I think on Oct. 3 we’re going to feel pretty good.”